Forbes recently published an article in which they report: "Constructing new power lines to handle a huge increase wind power in the Eastern half of the United States would cost $50 billion to $80 billion over the next 15 years, according to a study released Monday by power grid operators." On the heels of the study comes a report in the The Gazette, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa that "ITC Holdings Corp. wants to build 3,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines to move "green energy" from Midwestern wind farms to metropolitan areas." The Gazette story, titled America's first green energy superhighway proposed for Midwest, reports that:

The project would cost $10 billion to $12 billion. It includes two 765-kilovolt transmission lines through Iowa, and a third along the Minnesota-Iowa border that could go through either state...The project would build 765-kilovolt transmission lines stretching from wind farms in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois to major "load center" cities including Des Moines, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Madison, Wis., and Chicago.

Years from now, and no doubt following an expensive Environmental Impact Statement process that will conclude with "heated" public hearings, citizens of those cities will be able to say...